A-list actor and collector of hot blonde ladies George Clooney is prepping to film two new Nespresso commercials. The Fame Fatale know this because a source has leaked me the casting breakdown for said Nespresso spots. Breakdowns are sort of like targeted cattle calls; they describe the types of actors a commercial producer is seeking, and list the dates for auditions and callbacks.

Here's the breakdown for Clooney's upcoming spots, set to shoot next month:

Oh wait. No. Scratch that last thing, there. Apparently, if you're a coffee-drinking Clooney fan who happens to enjoy acting while black, too bad for you. Asian gorgeous heroines also are apparently out of luck this time around. Unless their Asian-ness is also ambiguous.

When I first saw this casting notice and its apparently obvious racial exclusivity, I thought, gee, maybe I'm missing something. Maybe the Nespresso people, you know, already have a black gorgeous heroine back in hair and makeup, and now they're just looking for vaguely toasty brown person to round things out.

Or maybe the casting director who crafted this breakdown happened to lose all the power in her laptop just as she was about to type "African American."

So I called up a casting director friend of mine, hoping to get her help in offering the Nespresso folks the benefit of the doubt.

It didn't really work out that way.

"That's casting," Bonnie Gillespie told me instead. "There is no such thing as equal opportunity in casting ... It SUCKS, and many, many people have failed in bringing lawsuits against companies for putting out racist or sexist or ageist or other -ist breakdowns.

"But how can you require a commercial product who knows its buyer to use Affirmative Action and have all ethnicities as a part of its commercial? They've done the research, they know their buyer responds to X, so they put out a breakdown asking for X."

To be fair, this Nespresso commercial is not slated to run in the United States. But I have heard tell of black people living outside of North America-people who might like to buy a teardrop shaped coffee machine that goes for about $129.99.

But just to be sure I wasn't overreacting about this, I also roped in another friend of mine, an African-American actress with plenty of theater and commercial experience.

I'll let her take it from here.

"Yeah," she says, "I see notices like this all the time. ... A lot of times, big brands like this will have multiple spots for different markets (which can be offensive in its own right, like how they choose to market to an 'urban' demo. But, hey, at least they're throwing work our way, right?). So commercial casting calls, I kind of understand, because they're hitting different markets; for instance, some call for only Asians and they're not Asian companies or anything.

"The ones that have always bothered me are the ones for film, TV and Web productions that will literally list every race and ethnicity, right down to Native American or Pacific Islander except black. Like, they really have no idea who they want but they know they don't want a black person. If you're going to be so sweeping and general about who you're calling in, why not just say 'all ethnicities' like most people do? How many black actors do you really think are going to show up? I can tell you right now, not that many.

"It just seems so unabashedly racist."

So which lightly caramelized-to-cream-colored gorgeous heroine will end up in a Nespresso spot with Clooney? That's being determined as I write this; according to the breakdown, the first round of auditions are happening this week in Los Angeles.

Interesting artical. Few days ago I met a friend. Haven't seen her for ages and she knows I like George Clooney and somehow we spoke about race and she claimed she believed George Clooney has problems with black woman as you never see him with some. You can imagine my argument against her. Was a stupid evening for sure......

And if you think about, it is not George who is deciding it is the company. He does only the job like others. Wonder why this magazine or reporter writes it like that. I don't like it if somebody plays the racist card so quickly without knowing the situation or even that person who gets accused.

"A-list actor and collector of hot blonde ladies George Clooney is prepping to film two new Nespresso commercials. The Fame Fatale know this because a source has leaked me the casting breakdown for said Nespresso spots.

Breakdowns are sort of like targeted cattle calls; they describe the types of actors a commercial producer is seeking, and list the dates for auditions and callbacks."

Am I correct in assuming that George Clooney has nothing to do with the casting and that he's just the paint ?

You never know, the age requirement of 24 to 14 years younger than George Clooney may mean that these ethnically ambiguous females may actually be playing non-romantic daughter-like parts in the commercial (those over 16-18 years younger) or his usual flirtatious interests (less than 16-18 years younger).He looks ethnically ambiguous too & he does look his age. Not in a bad way. He's impossibly handsome, but definitely looks like a gentleman in his 50s...

It's true though that casting agents can argue that equal opportunity in auditions exists, however, defined by the "character" for the role/ part.

Exceptions to rules always exist. There could be attractive older women who look years younger and in high demand. People are living longer & retaining their youthfulness well into advanced age. The market is changing.

Regarding race, Halle Berry has contested this for years. So did Naomi Campbell. They felt that roles or opportunities were more limited to them because of their race. Halle Berry is mixed race too.

Unfortunately, it is the market targeted that sometimes sets these quotas, as mentioned in the article. Or that's the excuse given.

Last edited by Juliette Hardy on Fri 16 Aug 2013, 08:25; edited 2 times in total

Another interesting opportunity, do you think i can submit myself here too, if i already did for his girlfrien job? Well, to be honest, i prefare to be girlfriend, it may not only spend with him a few days shooting for Nespresso spot

d'aniela wrote:Another interesting opportunity, do you think i can submit myself here too, if i already did for his girlfrien job? Well, to be honest, i prefare to be girlfriend, it may not only spend with him a few days shooting for Nespresso spot

D'aniela, Lisa Snowden became George's girlfriend (off and on for 5 years) after shooting the Martini commercial with him.

very vera wrote:racist claims on Clooney ..... this does not bode well

Are you inferring that George Clooney is racist then ?

If anyone is confused, let me set you straight.

The CASTING company at the behest of the ad agency at the behest of the corporation (or not) makes the decision on the "type" they want to cast. These type of calls have gotten corps in trouble when they had NO idea the casting agency was sending out that type of notice.

Second George is NOT racist. He has dated African American women so let's get all that crap out of this thread. His father would routinely, during the civil rights moments, and even before, get into arguments with anyone who would make racist comments or deny someone service (for instance in a restaurant) due to their race. George has stated more than once in interviews that now as an adult he understood why his dad did it and is proud of him for it.

You don't come from that type of family background and become a racist.

Okay now that I'm done venting, I'll get off the box.

Last edited by LornaDoone on Fri 16 Aug 2013, 03:43; edited 1 time in total

I think the author is seriously overreacting. They're casting for parts in a commercial, not making an artistic statement. There's a lot of money involved so when you advertise (whether it's TV ads, print ads or whatever) you choose models to represent a certain look that you want that's going to appeal in the market you're placing advertising. People relate to people who look like them. George's Mercedes commercial that was made for China featured a Chinese model.

It's not the same as when you cast a film or are looking for models for a fashion photoshoot.

Nicky80 wrote:And if you think about, it is not George who is deciding it is the company. He does only the job like others. Wonder why this magazine or reporter writes it like that. I don't like it if somebody plays the racist card so quickly without knowing the situation or even that person who gets accused.

Thank you everyone you handled that very nice. So I don't have to be a pain in the butt and get on my box. You see him with the people in Darfur, he embraces them figuratively and emotionally, he shies away from no one.

It has nothing to do with Clooney. If a company is making a commercial they have a target group in mind, they have a gameplan and vision. So if they shoot it in a city - should people living in rural areas feel offended and stop drinking coffee, it´s clearly aimed for city people? If it has a dog in it, should cat associations make an adress and get a cat in there too otherwise they´ll boycott coffee? Please.

Kind of ridiculous to take the racist card and wave it everywhere, as it seems to happen these days.

very vera wrote:racist claims on Clooney ..... this does not bode well

Are you inferring that George Clooney is racist then ?

confused

If anyone is confused, let me set you straight.

The CASTING company at the behest of the ad agency at the behest of the corporation (or not) makes the decision on the "type" they want to cast. These type of calls have gotten corps in trouble when they had NO idea the casting agency was sending out that type of notice.

Second George is NOT racist. He has dated African American women so let's get all that crap out of this thread. His father would routinely, during the civil rights moments, and even before, get into arguments with anyone who would make racist comments or deny someone service (for instance in a restaurant) due to their race. George has stated more than once in interviews that now as an adult he understood why his dad did it and is proud of him for it.

You don't come from that type of family background and become a racist.